A French soldier carries a suitcase as a group of French and other foreign nationals, who were evacuated from Ndjamena, Chad, on a French military plane, arrive at the airport at Libreville, Gabon, early Sunday. less

A French soldier carries a suitcase as a group of French and other foreign nationals, who were evacuated from Ndjamena, Chad, on a French military plane, arrive at the airport at Libreville, Gabon, early ... more

Photo: WILFRIED MBINAH, AFP/Getty Images

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This handout photo released by the ECPAD/Ministere de la Defense (French Defence Ministry) shows a woman speaking with a French officer on Saturday. A group of French and foreign nationals were evacuated by the French army from N'Djamena, Chad. less

This handout photo released by the ECPAD/Ministere de la Defense (French Defence Ministry) shows a woman speaking with a French officer on Saturday. A group of French and foreign nationals were evacuated by the ... more

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

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This handout photo released by the ECPAD/Ministere de la Defense (French Defence Ministry) shows a group of French and foreign nationals waiting to be evacuated by the French army from N'Djamena, Chad, on Saturday. less

This handout photo released by the ECPAD/Ministere de la Defense (French Defence Ministry) shows a group of French and foreign nationals waiting to be evacuated by the French army from N'Djamena, Chad, on ... more

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

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Fighting rages in Chad's capital

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NAIROBI, Kenya — Tanks rolled through Chad's capital on Sunday, turning the streets into a battle zone between the government and rebels littered with bodies. Fighting also raged in an area where some 420,000 refugees live near the border with Darfur.

Chad and its former colonizer, France, accused Sudan of masterminding the coup attempt in the oil-rich Central African nation. Sudan has repeatedly denied any involvement in the fighting.

Hundreds of rebels penetrated the capital of Chad on Saturday. The violence has endangered a $300 million global aid operation supporting millions of people in Chad, a country about three times the size of California. It also has delayed the deployment of a European Union peacekeeping mission to both Chad and neighboring Central African Republic.

France accused Sudan of wanting to crush President Idriss Deby's regime ahead of the arrival of the EU force, which is to operate along the volatile border with Darfur.

"Sudan does not want this force because it would open a window on the genocide in Darfur," Chad's Foreign Minister Amad Allam-Mi said on Radio France Internationale.

But in a statement Sunday, Sudan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadeq said, "We would like to stress that Sudan does not provide any assistance to any side" in Chad.

The U.S. Embassy in N'Djamena said Sunday it was temporarily closing and relocating all of its operations and remaining staff to the airport. It had authorized the departure of its nonessential staff. The United Nations also said it was temporarily evacuating its staff.

French soldiers in N'Djamena began evacuating foreigners on Saturday night, and nearly 400 had left by midday Sunday, French military spokesman Capt. Christophe Prazuck said.

The death toll from the fighting was not known. But the French organization Medecins sans Frontieres reported they had operated on about 50 wounded people — only one a combatant — since Saturday at a hospital in the capital. A spokesman in Paris said the Chadian Red Cross had told MSF doctors that they had counted about 200 wounded. The civilians had been hit by stray bullets, MSF said.

Hundreds of people are fleeing the fighting, crossing the Chari River to Kousseri, in neighboring Cameroon. Helene Caux, of the U.N. refugee agency, said at least 400 had crossed and "people are still coming." She said her agency needed to confirm the refugees were civilians with no fighters among them.

The rebels arrived Friday on the capital's outskirts in about 250 pickup trucks mounted with machine guns after a three-day push across the desert from Chad's eastern border with Sudan. The entered the city early Saturday, quickly spreading through the streets.

Rebels are angry with Deby for not providing what they consider enough support to insurgents in Sudan's Darfur region, some of whom are from Deby's own tribe, the Zaghawa, who are found in both Chad and Sudan.